The River Island stores close in Russia

World renowned brands Esprit and River Island can leave the Russian market at an early date.

The Russian company Maratex Fashion Retail Company, developing franchised brands in Russia, is massively closing stores due to the losses.

The Polish EM&F Group is a major shareholder of Maratex company. As of the end of 2013, Group lost about 1.6 billion euro due to the currency instability in Russia and Ukraine. In the beginning of 2014, Group announced about its intention to wind up franchised projects in the clothing retail.

The Maratex company, also developing OVS, Bodique, Orsay and Peacocks store brands, managed a network of over 60 stores in the biggest cities of the country and held 25th place among Russian fashion retailers according to Euromonitor. It may even happen that the company will be dissolved in the near future.

As for the British River Island, market insiders expect the brand to operate in the Russian market independently. As of today, the company’s official website features 5 stores located in the best shopping malls of Moscow – Evropeisky SEC, Metropolis, Okhotnyi Riad, Mega Belaya Dacha and Mega Teply Stan, and one in Saint Petersburg.

The Maratex Fashion Retail Company started its cooperation with British brand River Island at the end of 2010 when the first mono-brand store was opened at Galereya SEC in Saint Petersburg. The brand has also been developing in Ukraine since 2011. As of today, there are two stores in Kiev.